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Before you had children, were you someone who loved an adventure? Lived to travel? Did you stop travelling just because the kids had arrived in your life? Well you can’t use that as an excuse anymore. Children love to travel overseas as much as any adult, and probably more so, because they don’t have to organize or pay for it.

Kids get very excited when meeting new and exotic people and discovering new destinations. Plane travel is another exiting event for children. The only difference between you and your children is that they have a shorter attention span and will tire more easily.

Here are eight tips that will help you achieve an amazing holiday where your kids will be a joy to travel with.

Keep them warm (or cool) and dry.

As an adult, you know how uncomfortable it can be if you are too hot or too cold. Children are more susceptible to these temperature extremes and they can get very angry, distressed or even quite ill. If you are going to a cold climate, make sure they have thermals, hats and warm socks as well as waterproof gear. If it is hot, try not to be in the sun too much and make sure that they drink plenty of water.

Balance out each day with a play in a park.

Kids need to run around and stretch their muscles. If you don’t allocate active time each day, they will become very fidgety and annoyed. I suggest that you schedule grown up activities in the morning and then find a place to play either after lunch or later in the afternoon.

Let them decide on one of the day’s activities.

Children are intelligent and should be treated with respect when planning activities. Their faces will light up with pride if you encourage them to be the decision maker for a daily activity. These activities might range from buying a gelato in Italy to watching the camels race in Dubai.

Give them a cheap camera to document their holiday.

Cameras are a great way for kids to capture the essence of their holiday. They have no concept of photographic rules when taking their pictures, so you’ll find that they will take very different photos to what adults do. Their photos will often be full of colour, movement and relaxed smiles.

Show them how to travel light.

Exhaustion can happen easily with children on a holiday. To minimise this problem, ensure that their backpacks are only carrying the bare minimum. A drink bottle, a camera, a jacket and a colouring or reading books should be more than enough.

Balance out the art galleries with fun parks.

Adults can only put up with so many hours of galleries and churches, and children have even less tolerance. It is important to show them the culture and heritage of a country but if you want them to be patient and enjoy this, you must schedule in fun time. Many cities around the world have fun parks, from Euro Disney to Sentosa Island. If you tell the kids that the holiday will be a mixture of culture and fun, they will happily go along with you.

Ask them to choose cafés and restaurants.

Kids love responsibility and enjoy making decisions. When looking for a place to eat, ask them what they would like to eat and whether they see any cafés or restaurants that appeal to them.

Don’t rush, just take your time.

The appreciation of any new location often comes by taking it slow. Your children will absorb more of the history and culture of a city if they are not rushed from venue to venue. For example, one slow trip through the Louvre will have far more impact and be much more enjoyable than trying to see three different galleries in a day.

So it’s time to stop shying away from travelling with your kids. The entire family will have an amazing time, as long as you are mindful of how your children are feeling along the way.

The holidays can be naughty and nice for your relationship this season! Holidays are a source of stress, or a time of sensuality and romance, depending on your attitude and actions. Here are ten tips for making this holiday experience an invigorating one for both of you! These suggestions revolve around the me, the we and the thee, three parts of the whole that need balance and attention.

Tip 1: Me Time: Do you spend your entire holiday season giving to other people? Remember to put yourself on your list. Take a spa day, a massage or go to the beach where you can relax. You can also spend time playing with your favorite sex toys! When you feel revived and not drained, it is more fun to give to others!

Tip 2: We Time: Set aside time for yourselves as a couple during the holidays. If you are busy in the evenings, why not set up a romantic lunch for two at a bistro? How about a chocolate body painting day, where you paint and lick each other with body chocolate? (See your nearest adult store)

Tip 3: Thee Time: In any relationship, it is important to also encourage your partner to do something for themselves. If they refuse, then set them up with a massage or spa day appointment. Make sure your gift is something they would enjoy.

Tip 4: Holiday Event Choices: If you find you have pressures to attend multiple events for the holidays, sit down together to calendar your time. For difficult relatives limit your visit to a couple of hours. It’s much better than feeling stuck for day and night.

Tip 5: Romantic Gifts in Your Stocking: If you do stockings in your house, remember a romantic gift for your sweetheart such as a love coupon book or a small and naughty game such as “Foreplay” or “Sexy Dice”. Write “For Your Eyes Only” on the card so the kids won’t see.

Tip 6: Sexy Scene or Role Play: Holiday dress-up for two can be fun. Buy some new lingerie or dust off an old favorite. Tie a bow around your neck and nothing else. Be creative. Santa’s helper can be very sexy and a lot of fun.

Tip 7: Spend Time Rather Than Overspending Money: Overextending your cash and credit is a major source of stress and can be avoided, especially where kids are concerned. Decide what you would enjoy giving realistically and stick to your plan. Avoid the temptation of being extravagant, thus reducing your stress when the bills come. It’s not about being cheap, but rather selective. Some couples shop throughout the year, or do layaway plans for those diamond earrings so they are almost pain-free!

Tip 8: Holiday Fun Day for Two: Whether you sleep late, or just stay in bed, pick a day when the two of you can just play around. Send the kids to a friend’s or relative’s that you can skip. Or, hire your own little elf for the day to watch them. Go to the park, play games, or watch movies and fool around. Candida Films makes some softer type of adult film that can please him and her. Let yourself have fun; laughter is known to enhance orgasm!

Tip 9: Holiday We Time for Family: Of course, we never forget about the kids. Plan a day with them, just for them. Have a yummy pancake breakfast. Go to a park or to the beach to play with them. Play board games. See a movie. Tire them out. Later, it will be early bedtime for all of you, and then you and your honey can have adult alone time again.

Tip 10: Over-the-Top Holiday Gifts for Two: If you have a little extra cash handy, why not splurge on the two of you? Some romantic gifts include a weekend getaway, a short or long cruise to fit your budget, or a spa day for the two of you. If you are into adult toys, why not get a hefty gift certificate for your favorite adult store and go shopping together?

Besides Valentine’s Day, there are 364 other days of the year to express you love to one another. It’s okay to be naughty and nice during the holidays; especially when it is in the name of making your love last a lifetime.

I have recently booked our own Dominican Republic Holiday, for a family of 6, and as I explored the prices with the main UK travel agents online I was amazed at how their prices would vary – even when looking at the same hotel! We saved almost £2000 in total. Read on, and I hope I can help you do the same!

Start with the Printed Brochures

Whilst I always book my holidays online, you really can’t beat flicking through the pages of the tour operators’ brochures for shortlisting your preferred regions and hotels, and for checking out the early booking discounts available to all (although in practice you can expect to save even more than this by booking online).

We found the brochures invaluable in helping us decide on a Punta Cana hotel, and it was much easier checking the facilities of individual hotels this way rather than viewing each hotel’s details online.

For the Dominican Republic we went through brochures from Thomas Cook, First Direct, Cosmos, Airtours and Thomson.

Hint – At this stage, don’t dismiss any Tour Operator based on price alone!

Going Online to Check Availability and Price

I expected Thomas Cook or First Choice to give us the best prices. For First Choice in particular, the headline price in the brochures looked amazing. Therefore it was a real surprise to find that when I went all the way through the booking process, with all the supplements and extras added on, that other companies came out significantly cheaper.

Other Ways We Kept the Prices Low

Check child prices versus adult prices – We spotted this anomaly weeks before it featured on television. Some of the online discounts only relate to adult prices, and when occupancy supplements are applied (as children do not count towards occupancy levels) you can find children are charged at a higher rate than adults. For example we found when we priced a room for 2 adults and 1 child that it came out significantly cheaper than when priced for 1 adult and 2 children. It can be the case in this situation that the first child receives the bigger discount and the second child is more expensive than the adult.

I don’t believe this is a deliberate attempt by any tour operator to discriminate against families, but just an
accidental result of the complex pricing structure of many holiday. So we ‘promoted’ our 11-year old to an adult.

Split the booking into two – As we needed two rooms, we saved even more money by splitting the booking into two.

This was because there was a reduction per booking at the time we made our reservation. Of course, we had to sacrifice any chance of the rooms being adjacent, but we were happy to do so for the extra discount.

Who Worked Out Cheapest for Our Dominican Republic Holiday?

We are going to the Superclub Breezes hotel in Punta Cana in late July, and both Thomson and Airtours offered us a really good price, and we chose one of these and saved almost £2000.

It is also worth noting that Thomson have now announced they are not charging fuel supplements on any of their package holidays.

However, the cheapest tour operator for you will depend upon your destination and date of travel. We reckon you’ll do best with Thomson or Airtours for Punta Cana Hotels in the Dominican Republic, but do recommend you check the prices with all the main tour operators when you are making your booking to ensure you benefit from any current offers and discounts.

Matching Christmas Pajamas for adults with matching play outfits for children your whole family is the number one fastest growing holiday tradition. For the past several years, families have been buying fun holiday designs in sizes ranging from baby to large adult in the quest for further enhancing and enjoying quality time together. It is not news that families gather at this time time of year. For families that live far apart, the holidays are sometimes the only time the entire family is able to get together the entire year. So, of course, you want to make this special time as memorable as possible. Finding fun and unique holiday Pajamas for your family is the fastest growing tradition for several reasons. First, they are fun. Who doesn’t love putting on cozy jammies and hanging around the fire together? For people who choose matching holiday PJs, they represent a sense of family unity when all members are wearing the same design. There are so many fun activities that are made more special when wearing matching PJs including baking holiday cookies, decorating the tree, lounging around by the fire, family ski weekend, caroling, playing board games and of course, opening gifts on Christmas morning.

If you are looking to enhance your family time this holiday season and plan to join the thousands of other families who have discovered this unique family tradition, here are some tips to consider when purchasing matching holiday for your family this season:

- Choose a loose-fit, comfortable fabric and fit that will be most popular for everyone in your household

- Select a fun print and design that is not too childish for the adults, but is fun enough so that kids will be thrilled to wear them. The most popular prints and designs are reindeer, Christmas trees, snowman pajamas and stockings

- Personalize holiday clothing for your family by buying from a company that offers personalization for individual name, the family last name or initials

- If you have a family pet, don’t leave him out. Many holiday pjs for adults and children are also available in matching dog pajamas. How fun for mom, dad, kids and the dog to be all dressed alike on Christmas morning and imagine the great pictures!

- Don’t forget extended family. If you have grandparents that live nearby or are hosting visiting aunts and uncles and cousins, get them into the spirit with matching or coordinating clothing, too. Also, if you have close friends or neighbors, fun PJs make a unique and thoughtful gift idea

Today every individual is very busy and majorly involved in the walk of life. It doesn’t matter whether you as an individual are living an urban or semi-urban life; it has become hard to give enough time to our dear ones. Though the living standards have improved, but with this improvement the stress level has also increased. Fortunately, to overcome from these sorts of stress levels and to meet the need of spending quality time with family members, today concept like “All Inclusive Cheap Holidays” is gaining new popularity. In fact, it is emerging as one of the best options to take the stress out of travelling and these days many people are even looking for all inclusive cheap holiday deals.

The major benefit of all inclusive holidays is it not only sooth our beauty seeking minds, but also takes us away from the business of day to day hectic life. Today package holidays are popular not only among the people living with large families but even among young couples as well. In the last few years, all inclusive holiday packages have become an increasingly popular choice among all those who are looking to have cheap holiday deals. All inclusive holiday deals are emerging as best options to enjoy great value in a vacation. No matter what holiday destination you select, with these cheap holiday deals you always have the best and feasible option to save money, enjoy a lot, visit abroad and explore various destinations all across the world.

If we talk in terms of its enjoyment and benefits, an all inclusive holiday deal provides you cheap holidays abroad along with complete package that usually includes drink and food facilities along with world-class accommodation as well. Adding to this, there are no ‘hidden extras’ on these holiday packages so you can easily fix on your budget exactly. You can easily have the idea of how much it is going to cost you till the last money before you start or complete your travel.

Apart from this, the next most important benefit of all inclusive holiday is holiday resort. Most of these resorts often cater for families along with young children as well. In fact, all inclusive cheap holiday packages are actually very different deal from normal holiday packages. These deals are generally more geared towards families with young children. Besides this, most of the all inclusive cheap holiday deals even provide free entertainment for adult holiday makers in the evening and night too. Depending upon the cheap holiday package, there are chances that all inclusive resort might even provide baby sitters and a free taxi service into your all inclusive cheap holiday city as well.

These days every leading travel agency and operator is busy in providing cheap holiday abroad deals in all inclusive holiday formats. Due to the constant demand and with most of the travel agencies around, today all inclusive holiday offers are also easy to find. In fact, in recent times many of the agencies have even started offering great value holidays abroad. Besides this, these days there are many all inclusive holiday abroad packages that takes to various resorts located at the different part s of the world and offer most suitable options to enjoy different activities like skiing, hiking, rowing, surfing, sailing or fishing.

Spending few days in the green of nature or lying relaxed on the sandy beaches along with the family or with the loving ones is all that an all inclusive holiday package can offer. So without any doubt, an all inclusive holiday deals can just be the most appropriate options that can surely help you in overcoming from your stress and enjoy holiday. It is definitely one of the best options and will always remain best option to enjoy a great holiday without wasting any extra money. You get to know about the complete price before starting your holiday, which actually help you in having a tension-free and long-remembered holiday experience.